8 Asians

Being Bi-racial in Beijing

By John | Friday, May 16, 2008 | Comments


There is an interesting story in The New York Times a week or so ago told by a Chinese-American mother, Vivian Toy, on a two week vacation with her kids and her white husband in Beijing titled, “Stopping Traffic in the People’s Republic:”

“…a young [Chinese] woman pulled down her antipollution mask and stared, open-mouthed, at my 7-year-old son, Patrick. She didn’t seem dangerous, just amazed, so I let the moment pass and we moved along to the next stop on our tour. But the next day, during a visit to the Great Wall, my maternal defenses kicked in when another woman approached us. Without asking permission, she sidled up to my 11-year-old son, Aidan, and draped her arm around him. Her husband was about to snap a quick photograph when I shouted furiously at her in halting Mandarin to get away from my son. By then, it had become clear why my children were attracting so much attention. They look Chinese, but not exactly. They look Western, but not quite. What they really look like is what they are: a blend of me, a Chinese-American, and my husband, a blond 6-footer of English and Irish descent.”

In a country that is 93% Han Chinese, there aren’t exactly a lot of bi-racial children. Ms. Toy did say that even in New York City, she had gotten questions from strangers who asked her kids, perhaps uncomfortably and unpolitely, “What are you?”

I have a Japanese-British friend from college who sort of looked Japanese when I first met him, I thought “Chick” did not sound very Japanese to me! I had a co-worker once who I wondered was bi-racial, since she had a Japanese last name and maybe could have been hapa. Later I found out that she was married to a Japanese-American, and she often said a lot of people who met her for the first time were surprised to meet a white woman with a Japanese last name.

No doubt, as more inter-racial marriages occur, the question of “What are you?” will increasingly occur with one’s off spring. The stereotypes or expectations we might associate with simply a last name might surprise us once you meet someone in person, rather than converse with the over the phone and email.

What next?

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  • Thanks for the article, John. I added it to our blog as well. I had a different take--or maybe focus--when reading the article, and I think that the author has some serious issues with racist thinking (and spreading racism through the media), but I think it illustrates very well the nature of how we need to reconceptualize our own thinking and how we deal with diversity.

    Thanks again for posting it.
  • Derek
    Possibly, 100 years from now major cities around the US will be populated with a majority of mixed races. Maybe mix race will be the cure for racism in America. My offsprings will be 3 ethnicities. I think that's great.
  • andrew
    I'm sorry John, being bi-racial myself, I feel that the bi-racial analysis to the article is very one-dimensional and tells us nothing that we already know. On a larger scale, I feel that it is pretty much irrelevant altogether. I know that I am only here to read your thoughts and not dictate them, but the NYT article was so bluntly narcissistic and racists that I really wanted someone from HERE to at least mention that aspect. But as expected, that action usually goes to a prominent member of the fighting44's. And thats just the thing about this site, I haven't read any article that at least attempts to analyze, focus, or even acknowledge the internalized racism that (I feel) is prevalent within the Asian American community. You don't have to agree with other people, but to not even mention internalized racism at this point is pretty ridiculous. It seems that people on this site simply won't (or can't, though I HIGHLY doubt that) acknowledge self racism as a factor. I visited Asia myself last summer and had to deal with this issue first hand with my relatives. I felt that Jaehwan's take on the article was spot on. Solving the Asian American identity crisis will only shed light on what it means to be bi-racial.
  • andrew - well, as someone who seems to follow 8Asians, you know that I read The New York Times and Wall Street Journal regularly and try to post most articles I see relating to Asian Americans or Asia. Personally, I'm not exactly sure to what extent there is or is not the wide spread internalized racism within the Asian American community that you feel is so prevelant. I do understand the point regarding jaehwan makes on The Fighting 44's - especially his point on a "cultured and non-thuggish white man in order to draw a contrast." - which kind of reminds me of the AP article that Clinton was quoting saying that she was getting the "hard working, blue collar white male" voters.

    Personally, when I was reading the article, it just reminded me of the time I met my half-Japanese / half-British friend. The "internalized racism" really didn't jump out at me except for the fact that the article was written by a Chinese-American woman married to a white man. I didn't necessarily want to point out that fact since we get enough trolls commenting on how Asian American women should only date and marry Asian men and how racist Asian American women are.

    Had the article been written a Chinese-American man talking about how tall and blond his white wife was, would this also be internalized racism or simply a mere statement of fact?

    Maybe I should read the article again more carefully.
  • Confuse_Us
    I'm not sure if the article is evidence of internalized racism but, for me, it's the essence of irrelevent melodrama.

    Here, we have an essay that supposedly highlights " '.....some problems that China will have as they deal with cultural diversity, pluralism and tolerance.' " And what exactly is the nature of the "problem" - curiosity. Wow, how terrible - the horror of a billion Han with digital cameras aimed menacingly at The Bi-Racial is too much to contemplate!!!!!!

    I grew up in the U.K in the 70's and 80's, my family moved there in the 60's and the racism that we experienced makes the obnoxiously curious Chinese look like angelic beings.

    The article is an example of what happens when people can't think of anything constructive to do with their privelege.
  • Rob
    I seemed to detect a subtle superioroity complex from the writer. Why did she need to mention that her husband is 6-foot and blond? Is it even relevant to the story?

    A black friend of mine gets pissed off when he receives comments on "good" black stereotypes such as being able to dance and play sports. He said that if someone stereotypes him as being better at something because of his race, that means everyone else is automatically inferior in same respect.

    If Asians are smarter, that means everyone else is dumber by default. So, Asians who love to receive "good" stereotypes about Asians, they might as well say that blacks are dumber than Asians.

    In this case, since she pointed out the height of her husband, she indirectly reinforced the stereotype of Asian men being short.
  • Honestly I am more annoyed with people who treat me like I were "invisible" than these Chinese people who are probably just curious and don't see biracial children often. I think the author has some serious growing up to do. If she doesn't like Chinese people, she should just stay in New York. You travel to new places to learn the culture and the differences. Not to say "eeewwwww" every time you experience something different.
  • Jaehwan, I go read your take at your blog. you are right on. She is a confused racist herself and she didn't even know it. I can understand where she was coming from. She should just hide her arrogance and bitch at her 6 ft tall white husband instead. Chinese people don't need that.
  • as the child of a Chinese woman and a 6-foot tall white man who grew up in Japan, i have heard my share of comments, answered a lot of unsolicited questions, and yes, even had my photo snapped by strangers -- but that was when i was a cute sweet elementary-aged kid. however, my mom never screamed at people to get away from me. i was taught to answer questions respectfully and politely. above all, i was always made to feel proud of my biracial heritage. i still answer lots of "what are you" questions and they are almost NEVER asked out of maliciousness or impoliteness. i see it as a chance to educate/inform/open a conversation where i might learn something too. (honestly, hapas who complain about the eternal "what are you" question really mystify me. people are curious. get over it.)
    i wonder if this woman realises that her overprotective and immature attitude may be sending the message to her kids that they're freaks of nature rather than individuals with a really cool heritage that frankly, going to be a lot less uncommon for their peer group than it is for mine. too bad they are being made to feel self-conscious of their appearance and heritage by someone who apparently isn't comfortable with hers.
  • Christ... I gotta agree with some of the commentors above. This lady needs to get a grip on reality and realize she, her kids and her husband's blonde hair are not all that fascinating. To anybody. Reading the original article, she makes it sound like China is full of gawking, giggling, unsophisticated bumpkins who do nothing but ignorantly point and stare. I felt like saying, sweetheart, you gotta get off your perch there.

    I just visited China a few months ago and to be quite honest, nobody cares about you (in a good way). There are white folks, black folks, expat Chinese like me (who stick out like sore thumbs). The locals couldn't give less of a shit. I think this woman WANTS to be noticed, and then complains when she receives a modicum of the very attention she so desperately craves. Its very akin to a high school teenager who shows up to school one day with a purple mohawk, nose ring, punk rocker boots, torn/ripped fish net stockings, and a Ramones tshirt. Then screams bloody murder when someone stares two seconds too long. "Whaddya lookin' at??? You're so ignorant!!! Wahhhh!"

    Ms. Toy... it's all in your head...
  • Bo
    I found the NY Times article confusing on a number of levels. Seems the real issue wasn't the inability of the Chinese to deal with race, they underlying issue was a way over-protective mother unfamiliar with a culture that seems to have weaker personal boundary norms. The fact that she put a racial slant on the whole thing was rather unfortunate.

    On that note, bi-racial kids of any mix - asian, white, black etc... - are pretty damn cute. What can you say, evolution prefers genetic diversity.
  • I am not trying to fan the fire. I am just wondering if this over-protective mother would have been equally annoyed with white people approaching them if they were vacationing in Europe. Would she have shouted furiously at these white people to get away from her son? My guess is that she will welcome all the attention with open arm. She is a racist.
  • jun
    even though i share similar views with many of the persons who have commented here,
    i think we should use the word 'racist' carefully...

    isnt a racist someone who feels one race is superior over the other???
    shouldn't we reserve the term 'racist' for the evilest of people?
  • On that note, bi-racial kids of any mix - asian, white, black etc… - are pretty damn cute. What can you say, evolution prefers genetic diversity.

    FYI, Butt f*cking ugly is an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY employer. Not to mention all those fun genetic diseases.
  • Bo wrote:
    "On that note, bi-racial kids of any mix - asian, white, black etc… - are pretty damn cute. What can you say, evolution prefers genetic diversity."

    Bo, I find it highly troubling to see this kind of thinking on an Asian American board or anywhere else for that matter. If you really think that certain people of certain races or combinations of races are more genetically evolved than others, I wonder why you post here? Is it to convince other Asian Americans to accept your standards of beauty? Beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder, but when I go to Asia and meet people, I personally see tons of beautiful people, many of whom don't have the supposed "benefit" of being part white. I don't think that they are more or less evolved or superior or inferior to non-Asian people or half-Asian people--I think they are beautiful. When I meet Asian Americans in the U.S., I think they are beautiful. And I wonder what kind of beauty we could share with the world if the shackles of Orientalist Kingstonism weren't controlling our literary and intellectual culture.

    Your statement contains the same racial determinism that was part of my original problem with the Times article.

    Bo, you're free to disagree with me, of course, since this is your site and I'm just a visitor. But I need to let you know that not all people agree with you that Asian people--full or half--are any more or less evolved. Just the idea that you applied Darwinism to races makes me uncomfortable, but perhaps it's only because I believe so strongly in equality.

    I'm fairly new to this site and don't yet know how deep conversations are allowed to go, but I need to call this one out because I think it's wrong. I'm still very happy that John posted this article, and I'm not trying to cause any kind of fight, but I need to call it as I see it. Thanks in advance to Ernie for his patience, and I look forward to hearing him speak about 8Asians on the upcoming Fallout Central interview in two weeks.
  • Alright. Let's be honest. Biracial babies are either super cute or super fugly. Yeah, I'll say it. I can call innocent babies ugly.

    So in that case, Darwin has nothing to do with it.
  • Bo
    Wow! I have no idea how to respond to your comment other than to say...EVOLUTION DOES FAVOR GENETIC DIVERSITY. That is a fact. Racially mixed people are less likely to fall victim to certain genetic diseases b/c of the whole dominant/recessive gene thing. Asians are prone to a certain form of iron deficiency - however, biracial kids are 99% unlikely to develop said deficiency. Similarly, Black people are prone to sickle cell anemia and Ashkenazi Jews have a slew of genetic diseases that other racial/ethnic groups aren't as prone to. You can also apply this same principle to most vegtables, fruits, and animals.

    Did I say non-biracial kids aren't cute or that asian people are ugly? No, just that genetically diverse kids are favored by evolution - which is a fact - and that I personally think they are super cute. Plus, if I were to say asian people were less attractive, I would be making a comment discounting my own beauty...and honey, I think I'm pretty damn good looking.
  • Jen
    i have several baby cousins who are bi-racial (tri & quad-racial) and they are pretty damn cute.
  • Funny thing, 99% of statistics mentioned in Internet commentary sections are made up, so “honey”, I’d refrain throwing around percentages unless you got MLA citable resources. I’ll concede, for once, that certain genetic diseases are more prevalent in particular racial groups except for that silly, nagging fact that those genetic diseases aren’t exclusive to those racial groups.
    From what I remembered of 8th grade biology the trick of recessive and dominant genes, alleles if you will, is they just have this nasty habit of being slightly unpredictable. (Mandel's genetics don't count since that was a controlled genetic dispersal experiment, if 8th grade biology class memory serves me right. ^_^) Genetic diseases might be wiped out completely if, goshdarnit, love wasn’t so “free” and “colorblind”. Sure, you don’t have any dominant genes for a genetic disease but oh! Gasp! Your lover of another race seems to have one that pairs with the recessive gene you have no possible way to figure out you have and you end up making babies that have the genes for some horrible, life-threatening disease!
    …Hypothetically speaking, naturally.
    Oh and I’ll heartily agree that ”evolution” favors bi and multi-racial kids. I see them favored all over the place—magazine ads, Wowowee, television commercials, the whole media gamut. I feel sorry for them kids though, being championed as a superficial solution to an –ism. That’s just gotta suck when, y’know, you’re just pegged to be this or that because of the way you look. Damn, I would not want that. At all.
  • "...99% of statistics mentioned in Internet commentary sections are made up, so “honey”, I’d refrain throwing around percentages..."

    You're being ironic, right?
  • ... Yes. However, I was going for sarcastic. :(
  • minbo
    Evolution does NOT favor genetic diversity. Evolution favors natural selection/survival of the fittest, which inherently lowers genetic diversity. The most advantageous traits reproduce successfully and are inherited over less advantageous traits. Mutation and genetic drift creates the opportunity for new traits to arise, but the general trend of evolution is lowering of genetic diversity. Continuation of the species in response to new or changing environments greatly benefits from genetic diversity. The larger the genetic pool, the greater the chance that some traits will be suited for the new environment. In the end, evolution's function in the new environment again selects for the most advantageous traits for the new environment, weeds out less advantageous traits, and lowers genetic diversity.

    For isolated populations who are inbred, often out breeding is beneficial, but it's not because of lack of genetic diversity. It is because in their genetic pool, no matter how small or large the pool is, they have accumulated a disproportionately high percentage of genetic diseases. Unless White folks, Black folks and Asian folks, whatever the classification de jour, are predominantly genetically diseased populations, the point of "hybridization" to dilute the genetic disease is moot. Besides, not all hybrids exhibit "hybrid vigor" of shedding genetic defects. Hybridization usually results in a normal bell curve. Some hybrids will do exceptionally well. Some will do just the same as non-hybrids. Some will fail spectacularly. You do not hear about the normals or the spectacular failures because of the the commercial bias to invest in and develop only successes and the research bias to publish only the proofs not disproofs. Mules, zedonks, ligers, tigons, as useful or charming as they may be, from an evolutionary perspective are failures, "dead ends". We still breed them, because there are other concerns in life and other uses for procreation in defiance of evolution.

    As for sickle cell anemia, there is a reason it is as common as it is. The genetic origin of sickle cell anemia is actually an advantageous trait which grants malaria resistance and originally had a greater beneficial effect upon lifespan than detriment. The trait is prevalent not only among "Black people", but in a large percentage of Mediterranean "White" people, Middle Eastern "White People" and Indian "Asians". In the "natural law" of evolution, it's not only fine, it is an evolutionary imperative to allow some percentage of people to die, or even to kill some percentage of people, if by doing so it will save the lives or extend the lives of a larger percentage of the breeding population. Evolution follows a harsh amoral calculus of life and death. To follow evolution, natural selection, survival of the fittest to a stark logical conclusion to the exclusion of other considerations lies the eugenics path. We don't have to go to the Nazi version, the early 20th century USA version is horrid enough. Evolution has a dark and ugly underbelly. Evolution is a craptastic way to justify anything, especially a personal preference on who you want to be in a relationship with. Just be in a relationship with them them, be proud of it, and don't misuse science in a mistaken effort to scientifically justify something that does not and should never need any scientific justification.
  • Akrypti
    I like what Mimbo said!
  • minbo - you are taking this blog way too seriously.
  • Duh, Internets is serious business.

    I myself cannot let things go-- especially when people are wrong on the Internets. It makes my brain itch something fierce.
  • Awesome response, minbo!

    John, with all due respect, isn't it a serious issue that goes beyond just the blog? If someone claims to be more evolved or genetically superior to you because you don't have the "benefit" of white genes in your DNA, don't you think that it at least requires some kind of serious inquiry?
  • Bo
    I give up...I'm racist and only those who enhance the racial purity of the asian race are right. All of us who fall in love with a blind eye to race and refuse to be bullied are just brainwashed.

    Alas, what to do with the fact that the world is being increasingly bi-tri-quad-racial. OMG! We have to stop that now before it becomes impossible to visually tell what a person is!

    The horror! The horror!
  • And this, more or less in a nutshell, is why I've been keeping out of these angry back and forth debates and haven't even put out an official response to some of the accusations that 8A has a passive voice or that we're, to quote one commenter on the F44's, "an ineffectual liberal tool."

    I read and respect the posts by the Fighting 44's, but some of the comments on there remind me of the conservative bloggers that were around after 9/11: a place online where people with the same view can sit around and be angrier and angrier together, and when a debate even presented itself the anger and bullying would push differing opinions away. After time, what you get is a very one-sided blog, full of one-sided people. And if me not wanting that on 8A through different means promotes censorship and liberalism, then very well; there are worse things to be judged over.

    Because at the end of the day, these conversation threads become less of an actual discussion on the topic at hand and more about an 11th grade debate class, standing and posturing and arguing for the sake of arguing. ON BOTH SIDES. Because there will be absolutely no give and take, because each side maintains absolute certain that their side is right and then the comment becomes "who can respond with the cleverest comment, insulting the other person."

    So to everyone: keep debating! Knock yourselves out. At the end of the day, I'll still filter out the "fuck you chinks white pride" commenters that come here to Google as well as the "fuck you crakkkas" and "fuck you whorientals" that I now get on a more consistent basis than I have a month ago. But also know that I also work long days and this comment has indirectly made me late to work and honestly, I'm getting tired of all of this bullshit.

    Great! Thanks!
  • Colin
    Ernie,

    What Bo wrote sounds like more of a personal justification for her relationship with a white man rather than evidence based on actual scientific fact. What makes it even worse is that it seems like it's going to drift into the territory of "holier-than-thou" that seems to plague interracial pairings. A great buddy of mine (a white guy!) who is pursuing a PhD in genetic research at MIT always laughs at this type of "Nickelodeon Science."

    IE: "I'm so much more special because I'm dating outside my race. I'm so enlightened and you're all so racist for not doing the same."

    I actually think this thread has been quite civil and it seems that just one side is reacting in an extreme way. What Minbo said was actually quite well written and breaks the issue down very well.

    It's interesting you would take one poster's extreme comment on the 44s to represent everyone on there. I've read posts and comments on both sites and both seem to be open to discussion and debate with very little hostility.
  • Colin
    Also, Bo, no one is declaring to keep the races pure as you sarcastically claim. They're angry at your belief in faux-science that you seem to hold with so much conviction. Unless these comments are posted by robots, it's impossible not to speak up against ignorance on the internet because it's comparable to speaking up against ignorance in real life.

    My buddy said it best (another white guy!). "This idea is pretty much heresy to knowledge."

    Like Minbo said, if you want to date to date a white man for whatever reason, fine. Just don't try to intermingle science into it and proclaim that it has some greater scientific purpose that benefits mankind.
  • Colin: While F44's and 8A's comment policies differ (the rest of the "extreme comment," not so much the "ineffectual liberal tools" bit, would have got rejected on 8A in a heartbeat) I never implied that his comment in particular represented all of the F44s.
  • jaehwan - well, I think we can have a civil discussion, but 8Asians is not an academic blog dedicated to genetics. I was going to write a response to minbo's post, which I thought was good, but was going to point out some things, but figured, why bother getting into a tit-for-tat discussion on this blog. I'd rather spend more time doing something else.

    I had sent this NYTimes article to my high school friend (white/Jewish) who is married to a Chinese women (born and raised in China). His wife and son are currently in China. It so happens that he just emailed me today saying that his wife said (who is visiting her parents in China):

    "According to my wife, that is EXACTLY HOW IT IS. Everywhere they go, complete strangers want to hug my son and pick him up and have their picture taken with him. She says that she doesn't get upset by this, but I can't help but worry a bit about him losing any fear of strangers."

    So I think some of the vitriolic comments regarding the Chinese-American woman in this New York Times article is a bit misguided in some sense.
  • John,

    I don't doubt that that is how it is over there. I lived in Asia for a year, and a lot of people go crazy for anything white or half-white. You walk into a restaurant by yourself and they'll serve you; you go with a white friend, and they SERVE you. So both your friend and the author are correct in retelling the events.

    However, the commenters and I aren't criticizing the author's retelling of events; we're criticizing her racially arrogant attitude towards Asian people, as well as the superiority complex she seems to feel towards the locals just because she married a white guy.

    Ernie (and everyone),

    I think Ernie is right; we just have a very different moderation policy at the 44's. It's not to say that all sites should be like ours or yours; they're just very different beasts. At the 44's, we're very liberal with our banning policy. We'd rather have people debate issues than just agree on them, and so we provide that forum. As long as people are intelligent and rely on logic, they're free to talk. Usually, we let the community decide if someone is getting annoying, and then we usually warn once or twice before banning. But as I mentioned, we don't ban all that often.

    And as Colin mentions, I'd consider this conversation pretty civil. It's tame by 44's standards.

    I also wanted to point out that our style of debate is not just posturing either. Both minbo and makulita, who are guests on your forum and black belts on the 44's, have changed my mind on issues through their skills at presenting and defending arguments. I'm sure I've changed many minds myself. So we do learn a lot from debating.

    That guy who posted the statement about 8Asians is a member, but he's not a ranked member. The best way to see how well a person represents our site is to look at their rank in the forum. Our "black belts" are people whom the 44's community endorses, even though we don't always agree with one another (see black belt Dialectic's post today where he debates with black belt Xian). A "black belt" is one who is comfortable with intellectual debate and who has made a significant contribution to the 44's. Makulita, minbo, and I are all black belts. Among the black belts, we don't all agree on everything, though we agree on basic stuff like racism exists, sexism exists, and no race or combination of races is better than another, either through pseudo-scientific "reasoning" or any other reason (which would go against Bo's so far unsupported assertion). Our "senior members" are also high ranks, and though they don't have the official seal, they probably know enough about our site to discuss.

    Other than that, I'm glad lots of people are reading our blog, and there are people on our site (including me) who read your blog as well.

    Cheap plug, but the Fighting 44's is going to be on FalloutCentral this Sunday. Call in if you want to talk with us!
  • overseas chinese
    " we're criticizing her racially arrogant attitude towards Asian people, as well as the superiority complex she seems to feel towards the locals just because she married a white guy."

    I agree with Jaehwan.

    Sometimes I think 8asians is the "model minority Asian blog". Take that as a compliment :-)

    Hey, I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I have met enough Chinese people who act like/ actually think they are better than their fellow Chinese because

    1) They speak English
    2) They have foreign passports
    3) They are married to white people
    4) They are educated in the west

    Please do not give these people excuse to behave badly. They make the Chinese look bad. I usually would not care what Chinese-Americans do or not do but since this lady's article made its way to the New York Times, I think I should say something. I have advice for Chinese Americans who plan to visit Asia or China, do not act like you are better than the locals because they can spot your act in a hot minute. They might not call your out because you are visiting but they will talk behind your back. My last word, the author doesn't know who her friends are.
  • Did I ever tell you you're my heeeeeero?
  • Colin
    What I do find a bit annoying is that someone will post something extremely outrageous or "baiting" and then the mods will complain about things aren't civil. If someone said something to the effect of "Now we know why Asian women date out more, it's because Asian society is inherently sexist," you better believe people are going to chime in with angry responses.

    In this case, the idea that interracial offspring somehow makes one more resistant to disease when it's actually used as a defense to justify the author's own relationship and an subtle attempt to give herself a "holier-than-thou" attitude. It really blows my mind how Asian men and some Asian women would actually put up with this type of statement.
  • overseas chinese, Jaehwan,

    >” we’re criticizing her racially arrogant attitude towards Asian people, as well as the >superiority complex she seems to feel towards the locals just because she married a >white guy.”

    You are interpreting her comments as racial arrogance. What if she wrote that without any intent of racial arrogance and is completely unaware of what her article being *interpreted* as racial arrogance?

    We will never truly know unless we get to know the author personally. Of course, the chances that we will ever know her true thoughts and feelings directly are slim.

    Well, I knew this post would get some comments :-)
  • overseas chinese
    Racism should never be about the intent but the effect. I thought WE should know better.

    Gosh, I don't have time to get to know all the racists in this world personally before I can call out an racist act. Just because I am on line on Memorial Day weekend, doesn't mean i don't have a life :-)

    If she truly doesn't know, this is her opportunity to learn. Someone should point this out to her, so she won't act stupid again.

    Oh, John, it is just so convenient to say "she didn't mean to" or "we don't know her personally". Doesn't it sound like the kind of excuses all racists use in this country.

    "We didn't mean to hurt people's feelings, oh if you chose to interpret it that way, what can I say?". "Oh, it was meant to be a joke"

    BS BS!
  • Confuse_Us
    John wrote;

    "You are interpreting her comments as racial arrogance. What if she wrote that without any intent of racial arrogance and is completely unaware of what her article being *interpreted* as racial arrogance?"

    I too don't see much evidence of racial arrogance. The author even goes so far as to say that in New York her children "....still elicit double-takes here and there....my nephew....has been asked the discomforting question, “What are you?"

    My problem with the article is that it tries to suggest that the curiosity of the Chinese is somehow a potential ominous portent of future racial strife, and all because people stare at and are friendly with her kids. It's offensive because it suggests that stares and friendly gestures can be compared to the racial harrassment that AA kids continue to experience in the U.S without redress.

    In some ways it's just another "fear China because they are not like us" article with a veneer of political correctness because the author is Asian.
  • Colin
    "Well, I knew this post would get some comments."




    If you fight cannibals, expect to be eaten.
  • Yeah, the woman wants to write in The New York Times to tell the world she is a racist. Maybe her observations were just that, observations.

    "If you fight cannibals, expect to be eaten."

    Please. You definitely have too much time on your hands. Well, you're entitled to your opinions, but this is a blog I contribute to, so I'm entitled to mine.

    I don't think this really is a "fear China" article.
  • Colin
    What are you talking about?

    That generally means that if you know you're going to get a certain undesirable reaction, don't do it. Just don't be shocked at the outcome. How does that translate into me having too much time on my hands.
  • I was thinking about the number of people posting, not the same people posting again and again in regards to this post getting comments.
  • Bo rightly points out that the world is becoming "multiracial". In that context, contrast and compare the attitudes of the Chinese people to racially mixed societies like Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines, where the people are a broad spectrum of colors. Instead of being merely curiousities like in China, mixed race people, particularly the lighter ones, are held up as examples of beauty. This phenomenon of "colorism," prevalent also in India, really really iritates me for reasons I'll explain. When I saw that "mixed race kids are cute" comment, while I don't feel there was any malice intended, it really hit home and not in a good way. My kids are all over the map color-wise, as my daughter is darker like me while my sons could pass for being half white. One day my daughter comes home and tells me she wishes she was half white like one of the popular girls at school. She's also jealous that a number of girls are crazy over my light skinned son. This is in a school that is 70% Asian American. It's hard enough dealing with her teenager issues without having to add some left over crazy colonial attitude.
  • Anthony
    Anthony's two Cents; the lady in the article DOES have internalized racism against here own "race"(of chinese people). But even more important is the fetishsizing of white people by many (not all)Asians in Asia, they think whites are a superior human species so they treat them accordingly- its a cultural thing. They should be proud of themselves and not seek out whites or half whites to take pictures with. Just because they are half white doesnt mean they are famous, or important.

    And the fighting 44s are all just full of talking debaters who dont actually do anything except talk hot air about how life is unfair-if you visit their website, youll know what i mean . Yes theres racism, yes theres racial sexism and outmarriage of asian women, but what will it accomplish by sitting around and talking on the internet?-anything?

    The posters at 44s instead of complaing so much should get up and actually DO something about it in the REAL world, like the people at fallout central, like imaginasian, like kascon, vascon, Wongfu productions,or asiatics.com

    Peace.

    Anthony
  • Confuse_Us
    ^ Surely you're not suggesting that the 44's are pompous and self-important!!??
  • The Fighting 44's is helping to bring Frank Chin, the Father of Asian American Literature, to Portland. We will be educating people about Frank's life, and Frank will speak to children about the importance of cultural myth. You can check out Frank's own website:

    http://chintalks.blogspot.com/2008/05/hello-por...

    If there's anything else you think we should be doing, let me know. We may be talented debators, but we're also open to suggestions.
  • Concerning Asian American politics, don't go discounting The Internets as a completely useless medium. 2 out of those 5 examples you gave are internet-based or known because of the internet. Fallout specializes in blogs and podcasts. Would we know WongFu productions if their videos weren't virally spread through YouTube?
    Organizing workshops to discuss the issues and current state of Asian American politics takes up time and money and isn't readily accessible for every activist in the country. Doing that shit on the internet is (mostly) free and damn near instantaneous and accessible for everyone with an internet connection versus the 800 bucks for a plane ticket.

    So jaewhan, think D or lopes has the time to start making feel-good mini-movies, or shucking out brand t-shirts? What about press kits? We need to start affecting the REAL WORLD, y'know.
  • Raj
    Too much BS back and forth!
  • ed
    I find this idea s 'mix kids being more beautiful' carries an extreme prejudiced undertone.

    We are talking about humans here and in that respect, ourselves and our parents who are asian too,

    People need to be reminded that we are not cross breeding animals trying to get that mix nor are we making cocktail drinks.

    Therefore some people should be committing that error when they are looking upon children.

    Children are beautiful because they are innocent and youthful. NOT because they are of mixed race.

    I know many people see beautiful half models in the media but let's not be blind to the fact that they were hand picked. There is no guarantee that a person who has kids with a white person will bear beautiful kids judged on 'mix race appearance'. See the ignorance in that?

    For that reason I think these are superficial ideas, It saddens me when asians can't see any self worth or value in their ethnicity and follow popular mainstream views that 'half is hot'.

    But don't blame asian do have this idea of 'white is right', they are merely reflecting the erroneous beliefs of mainstream society that is constructed by social racism, they just a little more self esteem and education.

    Some you might think I am overly critical but I've heard these ideas many times before and I could only think of this as just another byproduct of social inequality and colonial assimilation.

    Wherever this idea came from, it's definitely not something tthat originated from asian's themselves.
  • ed
    *correction

    But don’t blame it it all on asian's who do have this idea of ‘white is right’, they are merely reflecting the erroneous beliefs in mainstream society, that is constructed on social racism.

    They just need a little more self esteem and education.
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